WAR
by Trickster's Okami
Summary: Not really good with summaries. Rated T because I don't know what is going to happen yet. Please review. If there is something spelled wrong or needs fixing just let me know please.
1. Chapter 1

March 28th, 220 1:00 pm - Three Teens Sweet Town, Ireland Three teens walked down the street towards the woods. They were happy that they were able to spend the entire day together. They were worried because the three of them were going to go to the war over in England in two days time. As they reached the woods in silence, they began to run fast. "Monique, did you bring the food?" came a male voice. He sounded slightly out of breath. A laughing female voice answered him back. "Yes, Omar. Anthony grabbed the blankets for our picnic and you have the drinks, right?" The boy called Omar nodded his head as he leaped gracefully over a fallen tree. After about twenty minutes of running, the girl called Monique, swept passed a thorn bush and hollered, "I hear the Le Craig Creek!" "Good! Maybe we can slow down a bit. I'm going to be dodging bullets in a couple of days, but I won't have the energy if you keep running me down like this!" Anthony said as he slowed down and allowed Omar to pass him. "Last one to the creek has to wake up Alison tomorrow morning for our surprise," Monique said as she continued running. "Monique, your going to kill me before a bullet does!" "Well, at least you know we'll be back home when I kill you." "How's that?" "You're not going to die in this war." "What makes you so positive?" The three of them stopped running and stood still for a moment. Monique asked, "Do you not believe in your friends? Do you not believe in our Emperor and Empress? Empress Nicoah is the one approving all of the strategies to make sure we are as safe as we can be in this war. Emperor Abiri has fought in many of thebattles himself. Look at what they have done for our country! They have helped our poor people and still help those in need." "The people have allowed the Empress to take command of the Army, have allowed the Emperor to fight and risk himself without an heir to take command if hefalls. They have given our land to King Herum and his bloodsucking, money thirsty soldiers! Now they have started a war to get it back! They have allowed youto fight in a war! War is not for women to be fighting, Monique. Why can't you accept that fact? Why can't you stay somewhere where you are safe thehorrors of war, huh?" "Nicoah is one of the best commanders that this place has seen in a long time. Abiri has honor. That is why he will sacrifice himself without an heir. He believes it is for the greater good. Nicoah has fought, too. They didn't give our land to King Herum. The king stole it from them. They have allowed me to fight and became an officer because I was found worthy of my position. Did you forget I came from the sametribe as Nicoah? The Wolf Tribe was once known for the female warriors just as well as its male warriors. We had great strength until… Never mind. You willnever understand." Monique started running again. After a slight pause, Omar said, 'Come on, Anthony. I don't want to wake up Mum tomorrow. Looks like it's going to be you." Omar started jogging then put on a burst of speed to catch up with Monique. Anthony hung around for a moment, then started off in the direction Omar and Monique had taken. He walked very slowly. As Anthony reached the creek he saw Omar laughing with Monique as he hugged her. "There you are, Anthony. I thought you might have gotten lost," giggled Monique. "Are you angry with me?" he asked. A slight pause and then, "No, I have forgotten everything you have said in the past ten minutes. Now, one of you boys go and wash up and the other help me set everything up." "How about…" Omar began. "Good idea, Omar. You can go first." He dug in his uniform's front pocket. He tossed a bar of soap to Omar, who caught it instantly. "Thank you forvolunteering." Omar glared at Anthony, turned on his heel and stalked off. "Why do you have to be a jerk sometimes?" Monique asked, watching Omar's back. "I am never a jerk. He volunteered for it." Anthony replied. "No. You volunteered him for it. Now stop trying to defend your idiocy and start unpacking." About three hundred yards down the creek; Omar stopped at a large boulder and placed the soap bar on it. Having left his hat back with Monique, he tookoff his uniform jacket and threw it on the ground. He swung his tags off of his neck, put them on the boulder and leaned down to look at the rocky bottom ofthe creek. He splashed water on his face and scrubbed his hands. Watching his reflection as he cleaned up, he realized that the black dress uniform complemented his dark tan skin, shaved black hair and his emerald eyes. It also slimmed his 5 foot 9 inch, 160-pound frame of muscle. His face shone with pride as he thought of the events that took place earlier. At 19 years old, he was the youngest Captain in the military. Strong and laid back most of the time, he was surprised that he had become a Captain. He would now be known as CaptainOmar Craig Banal. Even his father was 21 when he turned into a Captain and that was in the middle of the last war. Standing up, he grabbed his coat and thought of Anthony manipulating Monique, he gave a swift, irritated kick at the water and left. When he arrived back at the picnic sight, he saw Monique laying out the food and Anthony watching her with too muchinterest. "Soap at the boulder about three hundred yards down the creek, Anthony," he almost growled. Anthony gave him a startled look, took off his hat and scowled. As he left, he heard Omar murmur something to Monique and her laughter carried gently to him in the breeze. He knew Omar was teasing him by dangling Monique in front of him as if he was a mutt that wanted a bone. As he reached the boulder he looked at the sun with his frustrated, sky blue eyes. Pushing up his dress uniform, he shook his head. As he threw his hat on the rock and grabbed the bar of soap, he noticed that even though it was a brisk noon, his tan skin wasshiny with sweat. He bent down and splashed water on his face and shaven blonde hair. Major Anthony Apollo Black was one of the youngest Majors. At 5 foot 8inches and 156 pounds, Anthony was a handsome, mischievous young man with twinkling eyes and a strong, I'll-beat-you-up-if-you-mess-with-me attitude. He looked at his reflection and wiped any of his frustration away and replaced it with a smile. Then he grabbed his stuff and left. He returned to find Monique and Omar mock fighting with stick "swords." "Monique, it's your turn," he called gently as he approached them. For a moment, Monique continued fighting Omar off with her "sword." Then, in one swift movement, she threw down her stick and tackled Omar. Getting up quickly, she darted off towards the boulder. All 120 pounds of her flew over the ground like a doe running away from danger. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Anthony settling on the blanket and Omar get over the momentary shock to take off after her. When she got to the boulder, she leaned on it and pondered her reflection in the creek and of the events that took place that morning. With her dark eyes, dark tan skin, waist length black hair and 5 foot 7 inch frame, 17-year-old Monique Jade Black, no relation to Anthony, was the first and only Indian in the Army. She was the first and only female, also. Despite all of the odds against her, she proved she was worthy in the Army. And earlier, she had the greatest honor of being announced by Emperor Abiri and Empress Nicoah themselves.

"_Presenting the Emperor and the Empress, Abiri and Nicoah," announced the announcer. "To begin with," started Abiri, "I would like to thank all of you for showing up for our ceremony. We are here to honor our fallen but also to honor those who will take our lost loved ones places. There is only one person who has not been placed in our system. This person has shown us time and time again how wrong we were to that they were weak." "This young woman has come from my tribe, Wolf Tribe," Nicoah added. "She was daughter of Chief Flying Eagle and his beloved wife, Tigress. She has proven that she is here to stay. She has proven it to many of the men she has worked with. She has beaten me when it comes to combat skills and she has almost beaten our best knight. Now that he has been slain, she is our best knight. She has proven to everyoneshe has met that she is here to stay." In unison, Abiri and Nicoah said, "We present you with Sergeant Monique Jade Black." Awed silence followed the announcement. As the young woman got up, most of the men she had worked with started to clap. As she reached the stage, the rest of the audience snapped out of their awe and clapped. A couple of them whooped and urged her to go on when she paused at the stairs to go up. She went up to Emperor Abiri and stopped a few feet away from him. The crowd became silent once again as they apprehended Abiri's reaction, forgetting that he was one of the two who announced Monique. He lifted his hand to his head in salute and smiled. Putting his hand down, he bowed his head to her. He reached over to the last Sergeant medal on a pillow held by a servant and pinned it to Monique's jacket._

Arms wrapped around her and Monique leaned back it to the embrace. She looked down at the water to see her and Omar's reflections. Her golden skin made his tan skin show a little bit brighter. Her face, usually never showing any emotions, held a smile. Her usual blank black eyes showed her happiness as Omar pulled away and pulled her tightly braided bun. Omar laughed when her hair fell out of its tie. "You are going to fix that," Monique said, grinning. "OK. Turn around and I'll re-do it for you," Omar said gently. When he finally released her hair, Monique accidentally turned into his embrace. Smelling his scent, she informed him, "You smell like the woods." "As do you, Monique. It must be in our blood because we did, after all, practically grow up in these woods," Omar smiled. "True. Now may I wash up?" "Yes, ma'am."

When she was done, she turned into him as he was leaning towards the boulder to grab his forgotten tags. They looked at each other and they both knew what was coming. It wasn't going to be the simple peck on the lips, but it was going to be something more. As soon as their lips met, they both leaned into the kiss, deepening it, wanting more but afraid to ask. When they separated, they embraced then broke apart quickly. Omar grabbed his tags off the ground where he had dropped them. "Meet me here tomorrow night at 10 o'clock. We can camp out our last night here," Omar said. "Anthony will be at his goodbye party with one of his friends. We won't have to worry about him barging in on us and ruining our last night here." "I'll be there, but first answer me this: Why are you at odds with Anthony so much lately?" He shrugged and Monique dropped the subject. She linked her arm through Omar's, grabbed the soap and started walking back towards Anthony. "Mum will be happy that you guys are spending the night with us tonight. Now Anthony has to wake her and Dad up for our surprise. Since she found out she was pregnant again, she has been incredibly cranky." Looking at one another, they laughed and walked a little faster.


	2. Chapter 2

**March 29th, 220 Early Morning: All Three Teens Sweet Town, Ireland**

Monique opened the door to the bedroom quietly. Balancing a tray of food on her left hand, she waved Anthony and Omar in.

Going up the right side of the bed, she set the tray of food on a small, round table and Anthony did the same on the left side. Omar stood at the end of the bed and smiled.

Anthony leaned over a sleeping body. Reaching out, he almost touched it when all of a sudden a hand came out and slapped him in the face.

As Anthony jumped back in surprise, Omar and Monique laughed.

" 'It can't be too hard when she hits you.'" mocked Omar as Anthony rubbed his face. "OK. How bad did that hurt?"

Anthony gave him a dirty look as Omar stuck his tongue out at him.

"Boys," scolded Monique as Anthony copied Omar's actions.

"Sorry," they said sheepishly.

"Ok. Today is our last day here with Jake and Alison," started Monique.

"So we have set up a picnic by the Le Craig Creek and there is no way you are going to change our plans," continued Anthony.

"We have done all of the chores so you can enjoy the breakfast Monique cooked," said Omar. "Now eat up. We will meet you at noon at the creek." He bowed slightly to his father.

His father looked up at him with pride in his eyes.

"You know son, I thought you were going to rebel for your entire life. I have to admit, I though you were going to turn out to be just like me when I was your age but for longer. I'm glad to know I was wrong," Jake said.

"I am just like you, Dad. I'm following your footsteps but there is a difference between us. I have all the support anyone could ask for while you had none. I have a family full of love while you were alone. You gave me your strength and I will use it for everything in my life. I am proud to have you as my father. I want to thank you for everything."

Monique looked over at Alison and saw that she was crying silently as she saw just how strong the bond was. Then Monique looked at Anthony and waved him out of the room and followed behind him.

They waited downstairs in the kitchen. A few minutes later, Omar came down with a smile on his face.

"Come on. Let's go get set up, Anthony. Monique, is everything almost done?" he asked.

"Just about. I'll stay here and meet up with you before eleven," Monique said. She flashed a smile at Omar, knowing that she would be seeing him sooner then that if he could get Anthony to stay at the creek as he left to come get her.

He smiled back at her as Anthony and him grabbed blankets and the other necessary items for their picnic. They left and Monique went back to the bread baking above the fire.


	3. Chapter 3

March 29th, 220 Afternoon: All three Sweet Town Ireland.

Monique and Alison watched as Anthony, Omar and Jake sparred with wooden swords. The sun, high in the sky, cast a glow about them as they sparred. All three of them had taken off their shirts in the hot day and the hard, fast pace they kept up. The sweat on their bodies made it seem like they were sparkling.

Alison glanced over and caught Monique watching Omar as he 'fought' Anthony.

"It's seems like they are actually fighting," Monique stated.

"They might be. But who knows with boys their age? Hormones flying everywhere, getting in fights…"Alison sighed. "Men think we are bad? At least we women can usually contain ourselves. We don't break things or get carried away."

Monique rolled her eyes and smiled. "Isn't that the truth. I can't help but wonder about them, though. Sometimes they get on my nerves. They won't tell me what's bothering them and they usually do. Boys….What can you do with them?"

"Quite a few things but men make it more interesting," Alison replied.

Monique looked up in time to see Anthony glance at her. She smiled and as she did, Omar hit him on the shoulder, taking advantage of Anthony's distraction.

Anthony winced as the wood connected and then he glared at Omar.

Anthony went and sat down by Monique. She got up and took care of the quick bruising, swelling abbrasion.

Omar and his father continued sparring as Monique fussed over Anthony's injury. Finally, Omar tapped Jake with kindness behind the leg.

Jake went over to his wife and bent to hug her. She jumped up as fast as she could and started to back up, watching Jake's every move. Then she turned and ran towards the woods, laughing.

"Don't touch me! I don't want your sweat all over me. That's gross," she laughed.

"I'm going to get you my little wife, and make all your dreams come true," Jake called as he followed, letting her stay ahead of him. Before he disappeared into the woods, he turned to the kids and said, "You children behave, now. Have a good time. See you all in a while."

As soon as he disappeared, the three of them burst out laughing.

When silence at last fell, Monique sighed.

For a while, they just laid back and listened to the birds sing, frogs croak, water trickle and the wind blow. Soon, too soon in their opinion, they had to pick up and leave.

On the way back to the house Anthony asked Monique if she would go to the party with him. Monique nodded and said she would but only for a little while because she had other plans.

As they reached Omar's house, they went their separate ways. Anthony to his cabin two streets over, Omar into the house and Monique to the little camping area in the woods about an acre from Omar's back porch.

Within the hour, their last night in the town for a while was going to start.


End file.
